Royal Society of Biology
Inspiring future generations (and feeding them)
by Rebecca Nesbit, Society of Biology People will fight passionately for medical advances, and indeed science has done a huge amout to save lives and reduce suffering caused by health problems. But the point was made at UK PlantSci 2013 that, ultimately, this is only valuable if we can feed people. I don’t think there … Continue reading
No single answer – messages from PlantSci
by Rebecca Nesbit, Society of Biology This week I’m lucky enough to be at UK PlantSci 2013 in Dundee – the 2nd conference of the UK Plant Sciences Federation. The conference opened this morning with a keynote talk from Professor Charles Godfray, who spoke very convincingly about the need for food production to become radically … Continue reading
A Society of Biology travel grant to Madagascar
Guest blogger Alex Cole from Swansea University talks about receiving the Society of Biology Travel Grant to attend a field course in Madagascar Madagascar’s dry deciduous forests are highly threatened and unfortunately Kirindy forest qualifies as one of these endangered forests. In previous years logging has taken place in Kirindy, threatening many of its species, … Continue reading
World Book Day
Karen Patel is in charge of awards and grants at the Society of Biology When was the last time you read a book? If you’re struggling to remember then you might be part of the 25% of UK adults who has not read a book in the past six months. To celebrate World Book Day, … Continue reading
Open Access
by Jackie Caine, Senior Science Policy Adviser at the Society of Biology Open Access – the business of making research outputs (papers, data and more) accessible to everyone easily and for free – is a hot policy topic at the moment, with recent government proposals providing the momentum to make the UK a pioneer of … Continue reading
Student BioSocs: working together is success
Guest bloggers Ioanna Sigalou and Rowan Watson, President and Secretary of the Staffordshire University Biology Society, describe how the society was set up. It’s no lie that every beginning is hard, especially when it comes to things that require people with different opinions coming together to share ideas! Things get hectic very quickly, which can … Continue reading
Four-stranded DNA seen in human cells
By Jess Devonport, Marketing and Communications Officer at the Society of Biology 2013 is the 60th anniversary of Watson and Crick’s famous paper describing the helical structure of DNA. The Society of Biology plans to celebrate this landmark discovery with a series of genetics themed events and activities, called Genetics: where have we come from … Continue reading
Why we blog, and why you should too
by Natasha Neill, Executive Officer at the Society of Biology Last night I attended an interesting Soho Skeptics event, debating the Leveson inquiry and subsequent report and recommendations. As is often the case, some of the most interesting things the panel said were off topic. One comment in particular caught my attention: the idea that … Continue reading
Consulting on consultations
by Jackie Caine, Science Policy Officer at the Society of Biology Earlier in the year, the Cabinet Office announced a change in the guidance for government departments and other public bodies when engaging stakeholders in policy making. These Consultation Principles aim to achieve engagement by relieving some of the processes which they feel have become … Continue reading